[Voluntary Interrogation]

The perspective shifts to an hour ago.

This elite team from the Inspection Bureau executed their mission with exceptional efficiency. When they decided to take action against Karens, Edie used his origin ability – [Cyber Phantom] – to forcibly control all the cameras in the Black Poker Territory. He identified the moment when Karens had the fewest defenders around him. Then, Job made the decision, Dana took the lead, and the team immediately began their operation.

As for Destiny is in My Hands… well, their role could be likened to cannon fodder.

When they were forced to stay behind to buy time for the investigators during the breakthrough, Destiny is in My Hands realized this point.

But what could they do? For the sake of the mission, Destiny is in My Hands could only endure. Fortunately, they had received a batch of weapons from their guild behind the scenes; otherwise, they wouldn’t even have had any weapons to fight with at this moment.

Destiny is in My Hands couldn’t help but doubt his own judgment again. Is there really any profit in sticking with the Inspection Bureau? Or perhaps the correct answer in this version is to join Ranen’s camp, and the Inspection Bureau camp only becomes suitable to join much later?

He couldn’t figure it out. His past gaming experience seemed utterly useless for this game. Now, Destiny is in My Hands’s only hope was to complete this chain of missions for the Inspection Bureau, so the rest of the Starwatch Squad wouldn’t be so resentful.

Sigh, leading a team is getting tough.

Destiny is in My Hands’s squad was hiding behind cover, exchanging fire with the arriving Black Poker members. Outnumbered and overwhelmed by firepower, they could only hold on desperately.

Fortunately, the Inspection Bureau wasn’t entirely unreliable. Just before they couldn’t hold out any longer, Job and the others finally finished their business and emerged. Dana drew the twin blades from her back and charged into the gang members like a tiger among sheep, cutting them down effortlessly. Edie, though not much of a fighter, quickly tapped a few keys on his computer. From his toolbox, a few clumsy-looking robots popped out and slid toward the gang members.

*Boom—*

Explosions erupted one after another. In an instant, the group of gang members who had come to reinforce their allies lost their fighting capability. Destiny is in My Hands and the others breathed a sigh of relief, but in the next second, a white van suddenly barreled toward them from the corner alley!

The Starwatch Squad and the Inspection Bureau team hurriedly dodged to the side. The van crashed straight into the building wall. Moments before the impact, several figures leaped out of the vehicle, rolling as they hit the ground, then raising their guns to aim at Destiny is in My Hands and the Inspection Bureau squad.

[Shot: Success]

[Shot: Success]

[Shot: Failure]

Destiny is in My Hands took a bullet to the shoulder and dropped to the ground, minimizing their profile. With two successful shots, someone else should’ve been hit too, but Dana twisted her body, her waist bending like a bow, and miraculously dodged the bullet’s trajectory.

Strongest Man gaped: “Holy crap.”

A-Long shouted, “Don’t just stand there, fight back!”

Strongest Man, No One Stays Sane, and A-Long returned fire, while the Inspection Bureau and Starwatch Squad members immediately took cover behind obstacles.

Destiny is in My Hands gritted his teeth in frustration. Just moments ago, the Inspection Bureau team had nearly wiped out this group of gang NPCs, and now players had to get involved too.

Wait a second—Destiny is in My Hands suddenly realized something. Black Poker was one of the gathering spots for the thug-like professional players of the Secret Church. Of course they’d show up here!

No good. They had to escape fast. No one understood the nature of players better than he did—there was probably a bigger group already on the way.

Destiny is in My Hands shouted toward the Inspection Bureau team, “We need to get out of here fast, or we’ll be surrounded!”

Job, of course, understood this. He glanced at Edie, who nodded, “It’s ready.”

Outside, the gang members, who had been on the verge of collapse, regrouped with the players’ support and were about to close in. But then, the sound of more vehicles echoed from outside.

“Huh? Our reinforcements?” someone asked naively.

But a few of the players’ faces darkened: “No!”

The vehicles, just like their van earlier, came charging in—and there wasn’t just one. A-Long yelled, “Get out of the way!”

The drivers in these vehicles were still in their seats, staring blankly down at their accelerators—they weren’t even pressing the gas, and the steering wheels were completely unresponsive!

Several cars rampaged through the cramped space, smashing apart the encirclement of gang members and players. Job and the others seized the chance, yanking open the door of one car. Flashing their badges, they hauled the driver out: “Sorry, official business. File a claim with insurance later.”

With that, they hopped in, floored it, and broke through the chaos, escaping the encirclement.

“Tsk, they got away!” A-Long looked at the car’s rear end in frustration, itching to fire a few shots at the tires, but the vehicle quickly blended into the bustling street. He let out a regretful sigh.

“Who were those people anyway?”

“No idea. But I think I saw some players among them,” someone said.

No One Stays Sane and Strongest Man started chattering away, while the remaining gang members, clutching their injuries, said, “Thanks for your support. We need to check on the boss.”

Oh right, Karens is still inside!

A few players followed the gang members into the base, but all they found in Karens’s office were shattered glass, some rope, and a gun lying on the floor.

Karens was gone.

“Could this be…” A-Long stared at the barrage of chat messages and guessed, “the start of a new storyline?”

—-

On the other side, the group that had successfully broken through didn’t look too happy either. Dana and Edie, in particular, had terrible expressions, and even Job’s usual gentle smile was gone.

Destiny is in My Hands carefully observed their faces and asked, “You didn’t find Karens?”

“We found him. But something unexpected happened,” Job forced a smile, while Edie, sitting in the passenger seat, silently fiddled with his laptop.

Destiny is in My Hands wanted to ask for more information, but the mood inside the car was so tense that he hesitated and stayed quiet.

Soon, just as they were about to arrive back at the Inspection Bureau’s base, the car suddenly stopped.

Job asked, “What’s wrong?”

Edie didn’t respond immediately. Instead, he glanced at the Starwatch team. Job quickly caught on and said to Destiny is in My Hands and his group, “Looks like a lot of you are injured. Why don’t you head to the infirmary first?”

The Starwatch team left, and only then did Edie push his laptop toward Job and Dana. “Before we head back, you two should take a look at this.”

The screen displayed footage from a security camera. Edie explained, “This is a vacation villa located a forest away from the banquet site. Its surveillance wasn’t damaged. I pulled footage from a few months ago.”

On the screen, it showed Edmund and Ye Ye’s group searching the villa. The camera, positioned in the first-floor lobby, captured everything — from Edmund’s team encountering ghouls, to teammates getting seriously injured, and Edmund transforming into a clown and brutally killing the ghouls.

Then Edmund disappeared from the footage. After watching it, Job asked in confusion, “What does this mean?”

“Edmund’s final direction when he left was toward the manor where the banquet was held,” Edie explained. “And look at these people in the footage.”

He zoomed in on the faces of Baba and Shushu. “These people have been doing volunteer work on the streets recently. According to locals, they all come from the same church.”

“The Secret Church,” Job murmured.

“That’s right. And I also found out that, at the time of this surveillance footage, Edmund was on temporary leave due to psychological issues,” Edie said slowly, glancing at the Starwatch team sitting in the back.

Destiny is in My Hands repeated, “I told you, Edmund is a member of the Secret Church. And not just him — Karens too.”

Dana ignored him and asked, “What about the other suspicious points? And the so-called evil god’s incarnation?”

“I looked into that too,” Edie said. “The one they claimed was the evil god’s incarnation — Ranen — strangely, he has an extremely complete record in human society. School enrollment, medical exams — everything checks out.”

He paused for a moment before continuing, “There’s basically no flaw. If the documents were forged, the level of preparation is so thorough that even national agencies wouldn’t be able to spot anything wrong. As far as society is concerned, Ranen is a fully native human.”

“You don’t think he’s the evil god’s incarnation?”

“Compared to him, someone else seems even more suspicious — Ogre Mill, who claims to be Ranen’s roommate,” Edie said, switching the laptop to another screen, where Ogre’s figure appeared.

The images were pieced together from street and hospital surveillance footage, showing the figure of a tall man. Most of the shots were taken before Ogre had cut his hair, so his face was hard to make out.

But his build alone was distinctive enough.

“According to the investigation, Ranen had no so-called roommate before he was hospitalized — he lived alone. Ogre only appeared after Ranen’s accident and hospitalization. So I have reason to doubt his identity.”

Job asked, “You think he is the evil god’s incarnation?”

“It’s just one possible lead,” Edie said. “And what those people said earlier about Black Poker and the Secret Church should be true too. After the bloody feast in the underworld, Karens rose to power, and the surviving gang leaders allied with Black Poker. I think unless the Secret Church intervened behind the scenes, Karens wouldn’t have secured his position so easily.”

Mentioning Karens made the three of them fall silent for a moment. But Job, being a seasoned investigator, quickly reined in his emotions and said thoughtfully, “So basically, the intel those people gave us was all correct.”

Which made things even more confusing. What are they trying to do? Provoke a war between the Inspection Bureau and the Secret Church?

“Captain…” 

Dana spoke up, “What about Edmund?”

If everything they said was true, it would mean Edmund really was an undercover member of the Secret Church.

Joining a cult was legal in civilian society, since this country allowed religious freedom. But inside the Inspection Bureau, there were clear rules: newly recruited members were strictly forbidden from joining any religions.

Because they had once paid a brutal price for it — in history, a cultist had infiltrated the Inspection Bureau and even risen to a high-ranking position. He nearly sacrificed the entire Bureau. Because of that, many investigators now deeply hated anything related to cults, and the Bureau had established strict regulations: if a mole was discovered, they could be executed on the spot.

“Right now, we don’t have solid proof that Edmund is an undercover agent sent by the Secret Church,” Job sighed, rubbing his forehead. “But now that there’s suspicion, things are going to get troublesome.”

When there were suspicions but no hard evidence — or if the cult mole hadn’t committed any crime — the Inspection Bureau usually had two ways of dealing with it. 

One way was to persuade them to resign, essentially firing them — this applied to ordinary people who hadn’t yet become supernaturals.

The other way was for members who had already entered the Dream Rift and awakened Origin Abilities. If they were proven to be a mole, the Bureau would perform a special brain surgery to ensure they could never use their powers again.

But this surgery was extremely risky and often turned people into lunatics or idiots.

“Forget it. Let’s head back first and hear what Edmund has to say.”

The three of them got out of the car and returned to the base, reporting today’s findings to Eunice, who was holding down the fort. Of course, they didn’t mention anything about Karens, but the girl still keenly noticed the exhaustion on their faces and considerately didn’t ask any questions.

“How’s Edmund?”

“He must’ve noticed something, but he hasn’t said a word — just quietly stayed in his room,” Eunice said. “Is he really a mole?”

“It’s too early to tell,” Job said to comfort her, then asked thoughtfully, “Did he contact anyone during this time? Like Archie or anyone else?”

Eunice replied, “No. They hardly ever speak to each other. You rarely see them together. After Edmund went into his room, that counselor didn’t even ask him a single question.”

Job fell into deep thought, then took Edie with him to Edmund’s room.

To call it a “detention” would be an overstatement — Edmund was staying there voluntarily. He sat in a chair in the bedroom, face pale. When he saw Job and Edie come in, his eyes were full of grievance as he said, “Captain…”

Seeing Edmund’s pitiful and timid look, Job couldn’t maintain the stern expression he had planned. He glanced secretly at Edie behind him. Edie rolled his eyes — looks like he had to be the bad guy again.

Fine. He was used to it anyway.

Edie said coldly, “Edmund, are you an undercover agent from the Secret Church?”

Edmund froze, then hurriedly said, “I’m not! I swear I’m not!”

“Really? We’ve already found solid evidence. If you confess now, the punishment will be lighter.”

Edmund looked completely confused. “But… I really haven’t joined any church.”

“Then why were you with people from the Secret Church?” Edie showed him the surveillance footage on his phone.

Edmund’s face gradually turned red as he watched the video. “I do know them, but I didn’t know they were cultists!”

“You were suspended for a while due to mental instability, right? Why were you there?”

Edmund’s lips trembled. “T-That’s because I wanted to prove that what I saw wasn’t just an illusion!”

He anxiously explained how he had seen strange shadows and heard voices that others couldn’t hear. His team back then hadn’t been aware of anything about Obsessions, but seasoned investigators like Job and Edie had encountered such phenomena before. Obsessions were so rare that they weren’t even documented in the investigator training manuals.

Job said, “Tell us in detail what happened back then.”

Edmund pressed his lips together and nodded. He started recounting how he had first heard voices during a mission — voices that others couldn’t hear. He had tried to warn Geffer and the rest of the team, but none of them understood what he was talking about or believed him. His captain at the time simply told him to go back and rest, but Edmund continued to suffer under the torment of the Obsession.

Everything he described matched perfectly with Job and Edie’s past encounters with Obsessions — experiences they had never officially reported — which meant Edmund wasn’t lying. He had genuinely encountered an Obsession!

Edmund’s lips quivered as he held his head in his hands, recalling the helplessness he had felt. “Later, when I was out on the streets, I overheard someone talking about butterflies. Suddenly, I heard that voice again — during the daytime! I suspected what they were discussing had something to do with the thing haunting me, so I approached them and joined their investigation.”

“…And that’s how we found the villa.”

It sounded quite reasonable.

Although luck played a big part, the logic was clear, and the surveillance footage backed it up. It really seemed like Edmund had just teamed up with those two people to deal with the entity haunting him.

“And after that? Where did you go after breaking through the first level?”

Edmund said, “I didn’t go anywhere. I just felt really great, like I had broken free from some kind of shackle — it felt like the whole world was mine…”

At this point, Edmund shyly scratched his cheek. “So, I just… kind of ran around the forest like crazy for a while. After calming down, I went back and took them to the hospital.”

Job and Edie: …

It sounded a bit ridiculous, but also extremely real. 

Because after breaking through the first level and awakening their abilities, ordinary people would often act giddy for a while. This happened regardless of gender or personality type. Job even remembered hearing about a normally calm and reserved senior in the Bureau who, after awakening his powers for the first time, ran up to the rooftop and tried to perform a “Leap of Faith” for everyone.

Compared to that, Edmund’s behavior seemed downright normal.

Edmund was very nervous about being mistaken for a mole. He looked pitiful as he said, “Everything I said is true. I’ve barely seen those two since then. You can check my phone, my computer — even use a lie detector on me if you want!”

Job let out a sigh. Edie said, “Lie detectors aren’t 100% reliable, you know that.”

Edmund lowered his head and stayed silent.

“Sorry, but according to the Inspection Bureau’s regulations, if someone shows signs of involvement with a cult during a mission, they have to go to Headquarters for investigation…”

“The Truth Helmet…”

“What?” Job thought he had misheard him. Edmund suddenly lifted his head. “Eunice told me about the equipment you applied for. You can use the Truth Helmet on me! That way you won’t suspect me anymore!”

“Edmund… do you really know what you’re saying?” Job asked heavily.

Edmund stubbornly said, “I know.”

“Why go this far?”

“I’m not like you… Captain.” Edmund suddenly lowered his head and gave a small, bitter smile. “Other than this ability to see another world, I have nothing.”

“I was born in a terrible place. It was only after joining the Inspection Bureau that I could escape that pit. So other than the Bureau, I have nowhere else to go.”

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes red. “That’s why I absolutely can’t be dismissed!”

“Please, Captain.”

Edie turned and glanced at Job. The blond man frowned deeply, unable to make a decision.

“Let him do it.”

At that moment, the door opened from the outside. A woman with glasses walked in, carrying a round package, and placed it on the table.

“Dana.” Job grabbed Dana’s hand, his expression disapproving.

“Captain, don’t forget the level of this mission,” Dana whispered next to Job’s ear. “This ‘Unknown’-level mission was issued personally by that person. It’s not just about how important the mission is — everyone involved will have to undergo at least six months of quarantine, mental evaluation, and a cooling-off period afterward. Do you really think if Edmund is even suspected, he’ll ever have a day of freedom back at HQ?”

Job paused slightly, then let go of her hand.

“The Truth Helmet is dangerous, yes. But as long as the subject tells the truth and the helmet isn’t worn for too long, the side effects aren’t that serious.” Dana turned to Edmund. She pulled away the cloth wrapping the helmet, revealing the horrifying artifact once again.

“Its tendrils will gradually invade the wearer’s brain. When a human lies, the brain emits conflicting signals, which trigger a reaction from the tendrils — that’s why lying causes severe pain. But as long as you don’t resist the questioning and stay relaxed, the tendrils won’t cause pain,” Dana explained. “Understand?”

“Understood.” Edmund stared at the helmet on the table, gulped, and gave a smile uglier than crying. “But what if I can’t stay relaxed?”

Honestly, who could stay relaxed with that thing on their head?

Job comfortingly patted Edmund on the shoulder. “It’s fine. At most, you’ll just feel a slight reaction.”

“Don’t worry. As long as the tendrils don’t burrow deep into your brain, no matter what kind of damage you take afterward, it’ll be as if you were never hurt.”

When Job said this, he had actually started to believe Edmund a little. After all, if he really were a mole, he wouldn’t have had the confidence to suggest using the Truth Helmet.

Anyone who dared to do that was either an idiot or insane.

When Edmund put on the helmet, almost everyone at the base — not just the Starwatch Squad — gathered around to watch the show. Especially Chris, who hugged his lie detector tightly, grumbling in frustration.

“You’d rather trust some polluted object than my invention? A bunch of blind fools who can’t recognize real talent.”

No one paid him any attention. All eyes were focused nervously on Edmund wearing the helmet.

Job asked, “Have you ever joined any gang or secret society, Edmund?”

“No,” Edmund answered firmly.

There was no scream, no cries of pain. The helmet’s tendrils stayed lazily on Edmund’s scalp without burrowing deeper.

Even so, Job and the others didn’t dare relax. They quickly continued questioning.

“Do you worship any being as your master?”

“Have you ever betrayed the Inspection Bureau?”

“Have you ever harmed a fellow officer?”

All the answers were no.

Edmund didn’t look strained while answering. He just seemed a little dazed, clearly uncomfortable with the thing on his head. After a round of rapid questioning, Job and the others were basically certain he wasn’t suspicious and hurriedly helped him remove the helmet.

“Okay, it’s all recorded. Even the people at HQ shouldn’t have anything to say now,” Edie said.

Chris suddenly chuckled. “Not necessarily.”

Everyone turned to look at him. Chris said, “My lie detector was originally designed based on how this polluted item operates. Since my detector can potentially be fooled, why are you all so sure the Truth Helmet can’t be?”

Edie rolled his eyes. No one else bothered to argue with him. Dana, unusually gentle, comforted Edmund, “Don’t worry, just ignore him. Chapman’s just a hopeless tech freak.”

“I am telling the truth,” Chris insisted.

“Alright, alright. You think anyone cares right now? The Truth Helmet has never given wrong information,” Job said, waving his hand.

“The Truth Helmet hasn’t failed, especially once the wearer reaches the third level.” Chris said. “By then, the wearer has already lost the ability to think independently, so naturally they can’t lie. But before that, if someone implants a psychological suggestion or brainwashes them to erase a memory in advance, their brain neurons wouldn’t emit conflicting signals. The helmet wouldn’t detect anything wrong. That’s the one flaw my lie detector shares.”

Edie snorted. “So you’re suggesting we should turn a possibly innocent investigator into a mindless puppet?”

“I never said that,” Chris shrugged. “I’m just scientifically refuting the overly optimistic nonsense you just said.”

Job sighed. “Are you saying Edmund might’ve been hypnotized beforehand and that’s why he passed the Truth Helmet test? Come on — who would have the ability and the opportunity to do that? Since arriving here, Edmund’s been under our watch the whole time. He never had the time or chance.”

Chris turned his eyes to Archie. Archie sneered. “Your Bureau’s mess — don’t drag me into it. Honestly, if it weren’t for the Sheriff’s orders, I’d already be gone. There’s nothing left here that needs my help, is there?”

Job had more than one reason for keeping Archie around. Hearing this, he quickly said, “Of course, we don’t mean to doubt you, Dr. Archie.”

Archie ignored him, left the room with a cold face, and Chris, sensing he wasn’t welcome either, followed after him.

“Dr. Archie…” Chris casually caught up to Archie. Archie turned back, glaring coldly at him. “What do you want? Don’t follow me.”

“Mm, it’s nothing really. It’s just that during the test you ran earlier, some of the data caught my attention. Would you mind if we discussed it privately in a room?”

“I’m not interested. Get lost.”  

Archie had no goodwill toward the Bureau’s people. After vaguely sensing that Job had intentionally kept him here, he had only grown more guarded — there was no way he would treat them kindly.

Chris scratched his head. “Sigh, alright then. I’ll just head this way.”

He pointed in the direction Archie had originally been walking. Without hesitation, Archie turned and headed the other way.

As they brushed past each other, Chris leaned in and whispered in Archie’s ear, “They’re targeting your friend.”

Archie’s pupils contracted sharply. He stared at Chris’s retreating back in shock. In this moment, it was as if their roles had reversed — Chris whistling casually as he walked away, and Archie frozen in place, hesitating whether to chase after him.

While Archie was still hesitating, Chris had already disappeared down the corridor. Archie had no choice but to take note of this and turn to leave.

—-

Back in the room, Dana had already untied the ropes binding Edmund. Job apologized, “Sorry, Edmund. We shouldn’t have doubted you just because of an outsider’s words.”

Edmund gave a weak smile, signaling that it was alright.

In just a few short minutes, Edmund’s complexion had worsened as if he’d been pulling all-nighters for days. Job sighed and placed a hand on Edmund’s shoulder. Then something surprising happened — a soft yellow light glowed warmly in Job’s palm, and Edmund’s face quickly regained some color.

“This is…”

“My origin ability, [Healer],” Job explained. “It’s not that effective on mental injuries, but physically, as long as you’re not immediately dead, I can usually bring you back.”

Edmund had already earned their trust by proving himself with the Truth Helmet. Job didn’t mind revealing a bit more information to him now.

As an exchange — and as compensation — he hoped Edmund would reintegrate into the team.

“Once again, we apologize. We shouldn’t have doubted you.”

“It’s alright… It might be because someone with ulterior motives saw me investigating with the cultists back then. They’re trying to use that to divide us from within,” Edmund said softly.

“Very likely,” Job fell into deep thought. “If that’s the case, their goal is probably to make the snipe and clam fight while the fisherman reaps the reward. Those who joined our team likely aren’t from the Secret Church’s forces, but from another secret organization that simply wants to mislead and use us.”

Edmund asked, “How can you tell?”

“First of all, it’s likely a local group, which is why they know so much about the Secret Church. The Secret Church must be threatening them too. And by sending us such obvious intel, one reason is that they want our Inspection Bureau to take the hit for them — to help find the real Gatekeeper.”

Job slowly organized his thoughts: “This is an open scheme. The person behind the Secret Church is probably among those suspected of being the Gatekeeper. They told us this to get us to verify it for them.”

“And once we initially verify that the information they gave us is accurate, we’ll start trusting it more and more. They’ll then feed us misleading intel — like claiming there’s a traitor among us — to gradually weaken and scatter our forces.”

“Of course, this is just my guess.”

“I think it’s very likely,” Edmund said.

Dana nodded. “I think so too.”

Edie asked, “So what’s our next move? Are we really just going to go along with their plan?”

“I’d love to say no, but the higher-ups are pressing us for progress,” Job gave a bitter smile. “Out of the two missions we have, at least one of them needs to show some results.”

“Two missions?” Edmund looked confused.

“Yeah, Edmund, you probably don’t know yet.”  

Since Edmund had passed the test, Job no longer intended to hide anything from him. Plus, Edmund had stayed at the police station before — he might know something about Albert.

“This time we came to Arkham City not just to investigate who the Gatekeeper is, but also to carry out another mission: to eliminate Albert.”

Edmund’s mouth dropped open. “Eliminate Albert… why?”

“According to the information we have, Albert was originally an Inspection Bureau spy planted among the Outsider,” Job said, “but he betrayed us. He kept sending the Bureau false information, claiming that nothing serious was happening here. That’s why when the crisis broke out in Arkham, the Bureau didn’t react in time — it was a severe act of betrayal.”

“And the Outsider isn’t as simple as it seems. Even though their leader is suspected to be dead, the higher-ups are still at large. The Bureau captured some of the Outsider’s higher-ups who fled Arkham after the disaster. They all told the same story: only two people were involved in the leader’s plans. One of them was Albert. The other’s name and appearance are completely unknown. Both are still on the run, and they might inherit the Outsider’s leader’s will and continue bringing disaster to this land.”

Edmund said in surprise, “That officer didn’t seem like that kind of person… uh, I mean, that’s not what he said at the time.”

“Hmm?”  

At these words, everyone in the room turned to look at Edmund. Edmund opened his mouth, looking a little nervous. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Edmund, you’ve met Albert?”

“Yes, during the Arkham crisis, our squad was attacked.” Edmund repeated what he had told Chris before. “At that time, it was Albert who saved me…”

Before he could finish, Job grabbed his shoulders excitedly. “Why didn’t you say so earlier!”

“Uh, I…”  

Even Edmund wasn’t quite sure why he hadn’t mentioned it. Covering his head, he said, “I… it was probably around then that I went into a frenzy. My memories from that time are pretty fuzzy. Maybe when you guys mentioned ‘Albert’ just now, it triggered something and I remembered.”

“And what do you remember? Think carefully!”

“O-okay. I remember Albert seemed really agitated at the time, asking why there was no reinforcements. He said he had sent back lots of information…” Edmund said hesitantly. “I… never heard anything about that from my captain, so I didn’t know how to respond to him.”

Hearing this, Job’s brow furrowed deeply.

How come this is different from what he heard before?

Who is lying?

Job temporarily set aside the doubts in his heart and continued asking, “And after that?”

“After that…” Edmund clutched his head, memories flashing in and out of his mind like fuzzy fragments from an old TV. “I… I don’t remember… Sorry, I think I was already losing my sanity by then.”

“Why did you go insane at that time?” Edie asked. “Was there an enemy?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know…” Edmund’s face grew more and more pale. Dana motioned for Edie to stop questioning him.  

“It’s alright, Edmund. You should go back and rest. The effects left by pollutants aren’t easy to get rid of. If you remember anything later, we can talk about it then.”

Edmund nodded absently, stood up, and walked toward the door. Just before leaving, he turned back and asked, “So what should we do next?”

Job pressed his lips together. “Those people suspected of being from a third party have laid out an enticing bait, but right now, we have no choice. That banquet is still our only lead.”

Dana said, “But Karens is already dead.”

“But he wasn’t the only one who came back from the banquet,” Job said meaningfully. “It’s impossible that every single one of those gang bosses is so tight-lipped we can’t pry anything out of them.”